SPY cameras have been installed at one Salford high school to watch over pupils and improve teaching standards.

St George's School in Worsley is one of the first in Britain to bring close circuit TV into the classroom.

But Headteacher Philip Harte is keen to divert attention away from the camera's use as a deterrent of bad behaviour. He said: "I would be really inflamed if people got the wrong end of the stick.

"Despite where we live and other schools in the area, behaviour is really good here."

The school says the two cameras, with microphones are in fact being used to improve teacher training - watching the work of teachers, with staff looking over video footage and exchanging ideas on how to improve teaching methods.

But Mr Harte does admit that since the cameras were installed in one class, behaviour has improved from the 11 to 16 year-old's.

The cameras are so powerful they can even zoom in on what the children are writing in their books. And Mr Harte proudly announces that a soon-to-be released OFSTED report shows a huge rise in the school's GCSE A-C pass rate, since the cameras were fitted.

He said: "We can really focus on the kids and how they are learning."

Traditionally, inspectors and teacher trainers along with headteachers, sat at the back of the class to observe teachers performance and the class in progress.

But the school believes this presence can create a false environment and interrupt pupils' concentration.

Mr Harte said: "If the class is naughty, when I am in the room, as the headteacher, the class will buck up.

"The teacher will get nervous, especially student teachers. When I am present, it can modify what is happening in the classroom."

The CCTV cameras and audio allowS the headteacher to see and hear the lesson in progress. And teachers are wired up with an earpiece, with the head on-hand to dictate instructions, without even interrupting the lesson.

In the near future, the school plans to extend the cameras to other classrooms and to share lessons' advice with other schools in Salford, who may adopt the cameras if their use proves successful at St George's.

Cllr Keith Mann lead member for education from Salford City Council said: "We believe these are facilities that will prove extremely valuable. If that proves to be the case, we will be keen to extend this investment to other schools in the city. I'm certain other local authorities will want to follow suit."

The Head at St George's even promotes the cameras as a new type of learning and looks to the day when pre-recorded lessons could take the place of substitute teachers, when staff are off. Leaving the kids watched closely by hidden eyes, in what could soon be every classroom in Salford.